


Terroir by Oliver Jackson

by dangercupcake



Series: Superstition Fanwork [24]
Category: Original Work, Superstition by Superstition_hockey
Genre: Blog post, Cent Dix Pour Cent (Superstition), Gen, Interview, Oliver Jackson's post-hockey writing career, superstition by superstition_hockey - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:21:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27309121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dangercupcake/pseuds/dangercupcake
Summary: Jacks's next book is coming out, so of course Ghislane interviews him about it.
Relationships: Luc Chantal/Oliver Jackson, Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Series: Superstition Fanwork [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1724128
Comments: 25
Kudos: 79





	Terroir by Oliver Jackson

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Breakaway](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8917384) by [Superstition_hockey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Superstition_hockey/pseuds/Superstition_hockey). 



> approximately 80% Kat's fault.

TERROIR BY OLIVER JACKSON: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW FROM THE AUTHOR HIMSELF

Posted by GVP

Cent Dix Pour Cent _les personnes âgées_

Tags: Oliver Jackson, Number 42, Book Club, The Western Quest For Chocolate, Oliver Jackson’s Commentary On Colonialism, Luc Chantal Is An Alien

Click here to read the English version of this post.

Hitting your favorite bookstore on Tuesday is _Terroir_ by Oliver Jackson. As you may expect, it is set in space. However, this is one book that _does not_ star our favorite J. Tuesday Ghost! This is a mystery novel featuring a new protagonist, an alien named . . . Luc.

GVP: Luc?

Jackson: It’s an inside joke.

GVP: Bring us inside!

Jackson: Luc is obsessed with smoothies. He always has been. And he puts the absolute worst shit into them, like cauliflower. He’s always like, “Come on, Jacks, you need your folate.” It’s just awful. And I pulled that piece of him in when I was creating this guy, I was like, this guy is obsessed with gross smoothies. Then when I was writing, I kept thinking of him as Luc, so finally Chants was like, _go ahead, it’s fine._ [*puts a hand to his head like a Victorian maiden*] _I’ll live with it._

GVP: Because, of course, you have never based any other characters on him.

Jackson: _Never_. [*rolls his eyes and grins*]

Luc the alien is a detective who is anti-police. 

(“This,” Jacks says vehemently, “should not be considered police propaganda.”)

He is an alien who has adopted the “Terran” gender of male, because there are no gender markers or gendered language from his home planet, and since he investigates crimes committed by Terrans against aliens in space, he’s decided it’s easier if Terrans can “call me something they understand”.

One of the most exciting things in the book is getting glimpses at Luc’s detective notebook, which is written in symbols, not words.

Jackson: Yeah, we all are learning sign language, because one of the grandkids is Deaf, and I jumped from there to learning about this thing called Augementative and Alternative Communication, which is sign languages and how they also use facial expressions—like, once you become fluent in ASL, it’s pretty easy to see when someone is feeling lazy or annoyed just by the movements of their hands and face. It’s cool. And from there I learned about this language used at a rehab hospital for kids in Toronto in the twentieth century, mostly symbols, partially based on Chinese . . . like . . .

GVT: So you basically went down a wiki-hole and came out with a novel.

Jackson: I mean . . . yeah.

GVT: Did you make this one up yourself?

Jackson: No, I’m not quite Tolkien! No, this one is in the International Register of Coded Characters and I got a set of it from the hospital in Toronto to use. 

Nerd alert! Like we didn’t know one of our favourite Nordiques is one of the biggest nerds alive already.

GVT: So tell us, what gave you the idea for this mystery?

Jackson: Oh, gosh. Okay. Well, I was thinking about the look on Luc’s face when people tell him they don’t eat vegetables! He makes this . . . face. [*tries to make the face, fails*] I mean, anyway, he’s . . . it’s hilarious. And I was thinking, like, okay, what about when humans go into space and aliens are like, yeah, we don’t have chocolate, or coffee, or garam masala? Humans would make that face, probably? And then would terraform whole planets to be where they could grow coffee beans or whatever. 

GVT: I would not go into space if I could not have coffee.

Jackson: I don’t drink it much myself anymore. [*pats his stomach*] (click here to read our article on Jackson’s gall bladder surgery.) But I don’t think Luc would go into space if he couldn’t have a London Fog every morning.

GVT: Every morning? 

Jackson: Every single morning. With homemade oat milk. 

GVT: I was going to ask if that has any nutritional value, but then I realized it must have fiber?

Jackson: I will spare you Chants’s fiber lecture, Ghislane.

GVT: I heard it the last time I came over for supper and brought my homemade sherbert. Only Chants would want dessert to have fiber!

Jackson: Please make sure you publish in your column that he added flaxseed to his serving of sherbert. 

So there you have it! Oliver Jackson has not made up his own language but still wrote a gripping mystery novel about people from Earth terraforming and colonizing planets in space for chocolate and coffee, and Le Volé adds flax seeds to his desserts if he thinks they don’t have enough fiber.

Next week, load up this column for more “Cent Dix Pour Cent _les personnes âgées”_ —Nikolai “Buddy” Budnikov talks about his first trip back to Russia since moving to Canada for Nordiques Hockey at age 18!


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